Rain...sand flies...rain...sand flies...Welcome to the West Coast!

 First day biking...heading through the valley from Wanaka. No matter which direction you bike - it's always a head wind through here! This is looking back on Lake Hawea - great to start off with a sunny day!

Inquisitive around Makarora...

Heading up the Haast Pass - I think this was the easier side!

 Made it to the top of the pass - 564m. Legs are sore - maybe I should have done some biking beforehand?!

 Because there's been so much rain lately all the way down the Haast Pass there were waterfalls spewing out onto the road - great to listen to for a couple of hours while I biked through!

Best way to dry your socks as you head off for the day...pity about the rain that started a few hours in and I forgot about them!

 Early morning start from Haast - beautiful and clear.

 Cycling in and around Ship Creek - home to an ancient kahikatea swamp.

Knight's Point - didn't see any fur or elephant seals though. Apparently 'Knight' is named after "the obscure dog of an obscure employee of the Ministry of Works," in the 1950s...random!

 I was really looking forward to my first weekend where the crew (a great mix of old and new friends) from Cromwell came up and we hiked the Copland Track; something we'd been planning to do for a couple of years. This is an overnighter - 18km in and would take 7 hours. A beautiful trek alongside Copland River then into the Alps. There is a track that continues along to Mt Cook beyond it - apparently it takes 12-13 hours to hike there!

 Lots of the track involved hiking through rivers, up waterfalls, along swing bridges - it wouldn't have been any trouble for the hikers in Rimu Class! 

 Sunrise over the Alps - the best bit about this walk are the Natural Hot Pools at the top - very hot and you need to wear a long sleeved top in the pools as the sand flies will get you!!

The girls walking out the next day...nice and sunny!

 Biking the 23km from Fox Glacier to Franz Josef the next day took me 2.5 hours - 3 huge hills...and I definitely need new brake pads!

Hanging out with kiwis in Franz - holed up in a backpackers today as the rain was torrential. 

Top Tip in Franz: visit the hot pools here - amazing!

A typical West Coast day and view...

Waking up to a chilly morning at Lake Ianthe. Spent the evening with a French family. The Mum was also a primary teacher and they lived on a French island above Madagascar for 4 years. Great to chat with her and her two boys who were 7 and 10.

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Today I met up with two Germans (one was a special education teacher - I keep meeting teachers!) and we biked from Ross to Hokitika together (36km). We cycled along part of the West Coast Wilderness Trail - I was concentrating hard not to cycle in the swamp here. The water was right up to the boardwalk and in some places coming over the top. For some reason my bike always goes to where I do not want it to!

From here I hope to head to Awahono School in the Grey Valley (who Rimu Class blogged with last year) and meet them, then off to Westport to support some friends running in the Buller Gorge Half Marathon this weekend. Here's to finding some great campsites along the way!